sociology and science

• 5 components of a science

  1. empirical - count and measure information
  2. testable - scientific knowledge can be tested and retested
  3. theoretical - seeks casual relationships and doesn't seek to simply describe but to explain
  4. cumulative - builds on previous knowledge
  5. objective - personal feelings, prejudices have no place in science - unbiased
• Falsification - POPPER

  • sociology is not a science but it could be
• falsification - POPPER

  • idea that a statement can be falsified by evidence
  • good theory = stands up to any attempts to disprove it
  • Popper = sociology at present is not a science because its theories and statements are not able to be put to the test
  • Marxist - there will be a revolution to overthrow capitalism but this revolution has not yet occurred due to false class consciousness - cannot be falsified
  • popper - could be a science as it is capable of producing testable hypothesis
• Positivists - DURKHEIM AND COMTE

  • sociology is and should be considered a science
• Positivists - DURKHEIM AND COMTE

  • reality exists outside and independently of the mind - can be studied objectively
  • social facts = make up rules of society which are separate and independent of individuals
  • society can be studied in the same way as the natural world and patterns can be observed and analysed to create the social facts which rule society
  • inductive reasoning - involves accumulating data about the world through careful observation and measurement
  • theory can be formed and verified through further study
  • remains value free and patterns and causation can be established
• Paradigms - KUHN

  • sociology is not a science but it could be
• Paradigms - KUHN

  • paradigm = basic framework of assumptions, principles and methods from which the members of the community work
  • set of norms which tell a scientist how to think and behave
  • there is a single paradigm that all scientists accept uncritically
  • sociology doesn't have a single paradigm - rival schools of thought and no fundamental agreement - pre-paradigmatic
  • could become a science if it develops a single fundamental belief system
  • postmodernist - single paradigm is not desirable in sociology - too close to being a meta-narrative
• Realists - KEAT AND URRY

  • sociology could be a science depending on definition of science
• Realists - KEAT AND URRY

  • recognise there are some similarities between sociology and natural science depending on the amount of control the researcher has over their variables
  • closed systems - researchers can control and measure all the relevant variables and therefore can make predictions - chemistry
  • open systems - the researcher is not able to control and measure all the variables so cannot make precise predictions due to complex nature of the subject area - meteorology
  • sociology = open system as there are often complex systems and multiple variables that the research cannot control
• interpretivists

  • sociology cannot and should not be a science e
• interpretivism

  • sociology and science differ in two major areas

  1. Observable v unobservable - sociology is concerned with unobservable internal meaning behind action whereas natural sciences deal with the observable cause and effect
  2. Consciousness - natural sciences studies matter and therefore behaviour can be explained as a reaction to external stimulus whereas sociology deals with conscious beings who make sense of the world by attaching meaning to action - not directly linked to external stimulus